Bitter Was the Love, Quiet Was the Goodbye

Hades pushed the bowl of soup toward me, clearly displeased.

"Cassandra, since when did you become so unreasonable? Don't you want to go through with the wedding ceremony? It's the wedding you've been dreaming about for five years.

"Or are you trying to push me toward Olivia so that your groundless suspicions turn into reality? Be good now and finish this soup, alright?"

I brushed him off, not wanting to start an argument or stir unnecessary trouble. I knew he was using the wedding as a threat, trying to force me to bend to his will.

He had always loved manipulating me, but I refused to give in anymore.

Still, I didn't show how I felt. I simply told him I'd drink the soup once it cooled down.

Satisfied, assuming I'd yielded, Hades got up and walked into Olivia's room. I could hear him speaking on the phone through the slightly ajar door.

"I've found the white lace and pink mesh ones. I can't seem to find the black silk set you mentioned.

"It's in the bottom drawer? Oh, found it! But when did you buy this black silk set? Why didn't I know about it?"

Olivia laughed flirtatiously on the other end of the call.

Meanwhile, Hades lifted the black silk lingerie to his nose, sniffed it, and smiled contentedly.

I stood outside the door, a wave of disgust rolling over me.

When he noticed me, he walked out looking uncomfortable.

"Don't overthink things. Olivia needs to stay in the hospital for a week, so I'm bringing her a change of clothes. She's allergic to those disposable underpants."

Then, he handed me a bag from the floor and ordered, "These are Olivia's undergarments. Wash them for me. Make sure they're clean, and hang them on her rack by the balcony."

Frowning, I didn't take the bag.

Seeing my reluctance, Hades snapped coldly, "Cassandra, I've really spoiled you! How can you be so useless? You can't even do something this simple?

"If you won't wash them, I will. I've been washing her underwear since she was a child. Honestly, I don't want your dirty hands contaminating her clothes anyway."

With that, he took the bag and limped into the bathroom.

When he emerged, he said coldly, "I'll be staying with Olivia while she's in the hospital. In seven days, we'll have our wedding do-over.

"Just stay home and behave until then. Don't cause any trouble. You know I can cancel the wedding with a flick of my fingers."

I nodded and watched him leave.

That day, Olivia posted a photo on social media. It was a picture of a pair of suggestive purple lingerie placed on the white hospital bed. The caption read, "Hades gifted me this new set. He says he knows my size like the back of his hand!"

Smiling, I liked the photo and took a screenshot of it.

For the next six days, she continued flaunting their relationship online. But on the last day, her tone shifted.

"To save me and care for me, Hades' injured leg went untreated for too long. He's now disabled for life. But it doesn't matter. I'm willing to take care of him forever."

I hadn't been sitting idle. For the past few days, I'd been slowly erasing every trace of myself from the house.

On the day of our wedding do-over, I placed the wedding dress in Olivia's room and sent all the screenshots to Hades. Then I blocked his number, grabbed my luggage, hailed a cab, and headed straight to the airport.